Steering on a 95 Sundancer 330

[cphil19]

Hi everyone,

Recently bought myself a lovely 95 Sundancer 330, moving up from a Bayliner Avanti 3450. Great boat, and happy to be part of the Sea Ray family .

One thing though that has been bugging me is the steering. It's definitely cable, but does anyone know if the standard option is power or is it pure manual steering? My other boat had hydraulic and found myself really only using the clutch when slipping or pulling out for the most part, as steering really accomplished everything. However, with this boat, I find myself being forced to steer the majority of the time with both the clutch and throttles as the steering feels wonky and doesn't seem to have much effect is turning the boat. I'm not sure if this is normal for this steering type or if there might be a problem. Moreover, the other day, the wheel got "stuck" in the sense where it wouldn't lock to either side, meaning i could keep spinning the wheel either direction and it wouldn't stop. It was causing my boat to just go starboard no matter what and it took a lot of playing with the wheel to finally get it start locking at maximum left and right positions again. Maybe I just over turned it and the cable slipped out? Anyway, looking for any advice with this.

Also, would anyone recommend switching the cable steering into hydraulic? Can it even be done?

Thanks!

 

[Lazy Daze]

Did your Bayliner have stern drives? And the Sea Ray is a V-drive boat? If so, that would 100% explain the difference in "steerability" at low speeds. The Bayliner would have had typical "power steering" like a car (hydraulic steering is another beast all together). With the Bay, you were actually turning the props to redirect thrust. With a V-drive, you are only turning a rudder and that only redirects SOME of the thrust. Backing up is even worse. By "clutch", I assume you mean the shifters... fwd-neut-rev. Yes, learning to use those will be invaluable at low speed maneuverability. In fact, often times you don't even have to touch the steering wheel - just center it and leave it be.

 

[cphil19]

Did your Bayliner have stern drives? And the Sea Ray is a V-drive boat? If so, that would 100% explain the difference in "steerability" at low speeds. The Bayliner would have had typical "power steering" like a car (hydraulic steering is another beast all together). With the Bay, you were actually turning the props to redirect thrust. With a V-drive, you are only turning a rudder and that only redirects SOME of the thrust. Backing up is even worse. By "clutch", I assume you mean the shifters... fwd-neut-rev. Yes, learning to use those will be invaluable at low speed maneuverability. In fact, often times you don't even have to touch the steering wheel - just center it and leave it be.

Thanks for the reply.

The other boat also had twin direct v-drives. Only difference was that it had hydraulic steering. It also was overall a heavier boat with a wider beam, so maybe that had something to do with it. I'm almost wondering if I may have the trims down and not know, as there doesnt seem to be a way to tell for sure if they're engaged or not.

 

[jthatcher]

The v drives live in a tunnel and do not respond as quickly as the Bay would. You should not be able to move the wheel continuously in one direction. You should defiantly look into what is loose.

 

[Alegria]

Your description of what is going on does not sound normal and some of the situations you describe yourself in are unnerving to say the least!

I would have someone qualified look at it. My old 330was a 97 it had a steering ram which used the fluid. It never behaved the way you describe and was trouble free.

 

[bahamabreisus]

Your boat should be hydraulic steering. The fill is on top of the steering assembly behind the wheel. You are low on fluid, thats whats causing it not to stop when turning. Most likely you have a leak somewhere.Its a pretty simple system.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Given the age and the "who knows what a previous owner did", you might just want to get it flushed and filled/bled. Normally, a hyd system is pretty reliable and really "shouldn't" lose fluid - so the question would be... why is it low? Might just be a loose fitting somewhere and maybe/hopefully you can find it with a little investigative work.

I've actually never run a boat with prop pockets - or at least not that I can remember. It makes sense that you might lose a little low speed maneuverability, though. Coupled with a narrower beam (engines closer together), and I can definitely understand a difference compared to what you're used to. I would "think", though, that a pocket prop boat would be a little more fuel efficient at mid-range and top-end since the props are more in line with the hull. Just thinking out loud there, though.

 

[cphil19]

Your boat should be hydraulic steering. The fill is on top of the steering assembly behind the wheel. You are low on fluid, thats whats causing it not to stop when turning. Most likely you have a leak somewhere.Its a pretty simple system.

99% sure it's not hydraulic. I believe it was an option on the 95's, but not standard. If it was hydraulic, I wouldn't have the steering cable/rod at the very front of the engine compartment, right?

 

[cphil19]

Wow, foot meet mouth. Looking over the survey, it actually IS hydraulic steering "with a single ram" (whatever that means). Maybe it is just low on fluid. I'll get it looked at.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Wow, foot meet mouth. Looking over the survey, it actually IS hydraulic steering "with a single ram" (whatever that means). Maybe it is just low on fluid. I'll get it looked at.

The "ram" is what you're referring to as a "rod". As in a "hydraulic ram".

 

[Boater420]

Your fill should be where the red arrow points to top of steering.